Articles

How can hospitals support their front-line employees as the coronavirus pandemic drags on? And on? By giving them some virtual reality rest and relaxation, of course. Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian has launched CenteredVR, a virtual reality-based mindfulness and stress management program developed by BehaVR, Hoag is among the first health care facilities in the nation … Read More

The COVID-19 vaccines are safe. They are effective. They have been tested on diverse cohorts of people. And no one manufacturer’s vaccine is better than another’s. Unfortunately, due to a constant drumbeat of misinformation, nearly a third of all Americans still say they don’t want to get vaccinated, or that they only want to get … Read More

Dear Neighbors, With so many things moving in the right direction, I am writing to update our Hoag community about what is happening regarding COVID-19 and vaccine distribution. I am pleased with the news that Orange County has transitioned out of the most restrictive purple tier and into the red tier on the state’s risk … Read More

As the effort to vaccinate residents throughout Orange County continues, Newport Beach stepped up Tuesday afternoon to help fill the gap for residents who can’t make it to vaccine super points-of-dispensing sites. The city held its first community vaccine clinic at the OASIS Senior Center in partnership with Hoag Presbyterian Hospital, which allocated about 300 … Read More

Before entering the room of a COVID-19 patient, the Rev. Peggy Kelley dons personal protective gear — both physical and spiritual. She pulls on a sterile gown and places a face shield over her mask. She pumps Purell into her gloved hands and holds them over her chest, checking in with her heart. With a … Read More

California-based ImmunityBio, Inc. announced it had met the safety requirements for the first 12 participants in its Phase Ib human adenovirus (hAd5)-based T-cell COVID-19 vaccine trials in sublingual and oral formulations. Based on the findings of these trials, the optimal combination of administration route and dose will be determined and entered into the Phase II/III … Read More

Newport Beach, Calif.-based Hoag Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute became the first West Coast hospital to use Medtronic’s Mazor X Stealth Edition robotic platform. The Mazor X is designed for precise, efficient minimally invasive spine surgeries. It also reduces the need for X-rays and minimizes pain and recovery time, according to a March 2 news release. … Read More

In the year-long fight against coronavirus, this seemingly simple event capped a milestone for hundreds of Huntington Beach residents: On Friday, March 5, they lined up in a hospital parking lot for their second doses of the Pfizer vaccine. But it wasn’t as simple as it looked. Many who got their shots Friday came from … Read More

Orange County Wednesday continued to show declining trends in cases of COVID-19, giving county officials hope of graduating to the less-restrictive red tier of the state’s coronavirus reopening system by St. Patrick’s Day. The county reported 160 new COVID-19 cases, raising the caseload to 246,980, and 14 more fatalities, raising the death toll to 3,966. … Read More

The Covid-19 vaccine candidate being developed by two of billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong’s companies moved a step closer to deployment last month as the Food and Drug Administration approved expansion of their Phase 1 clinical trial. Culver City-based ImmunityBio Inc. and frequent partner company NantKwest Inc. of El Segundo have been developing a Covid vaccine using … Read More